Enhanced activity of hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase during dietary restriction in the rat: dependence on age and relation to cell size.

Age-related decreases of hormone-sensitive adenylate cyclase activities of rat fat cell plasma membranes (ghosts) have been recently described. Glucagon-sensitive activity was completely lost between 1 and 6 mo, an interval in which fat cell size increases rapidly, while decreased activation by ACTH was gradual over the entire life span of the animal (24 mo), and epinephrine-sensitive enzyme diminished modestly and only during senescence. In the present studies an attempt was made by restricting food intake to assess the importance of changing cell size in the age-related alterations of hormone-sensitive enzyme activities. Enzyme activities were determined before restriction and at monthly intervals for 3 mo for the unstimulated enzyme (basal) and in the presence of maximally stimulating concentrations of glucagon, ACTH, epinephrine, and fluoride. Activities were calculated per milligram ghost protein or per cell. Restriction of food intake for 3 mo starting at 1 or 12 mo produced fat cells equal in size to those of 5-wk-old animals fed ad lib. In young animals restricted for 1 mo, hormone-stimulated activity expressed as fold increase (stimulated/basal) was not merely maintained as the cells were prevented from enlarging, but was enhanced two to three times over the initial values with all three hormones. With continued restriction epinephrine-sensitive activity remained two times increased. Glucagon and ACTH responses subsequently decreased, but even by 3 mo of restriction, responses to the latter hormones, although declining, were still 1.5-3 times greater than the unrestricted controls, regardless of whether activity was expressed as total activity per milligram ghost protein or per cell, or as fold-increase. In the young animals, basal and fluoride-sensitive activities after a 3-mo restriction were unchanged or had decreased only slightly, depending on the base line used. Dietary restriction of adult animals for 3 mo, in contrast to the results in the young, did not increase total hormone-stimulated activity but rather produced either 0% (per milligram protein) or 25% decrease (per cell) for epinephrine-sensitive enzyme, 25 or 50% decrease of ACTH response, and 40 or 60% decreases of basal- and fluoride-stimulated activities. Expression of activities of restricted adults as fold-increase (stimulate/basal) showed an "increase of responsiveness" for all three hormones, but this was a reflection of the marked decrease of basal activity. Nonetheless, the restricted adults showed significant restoration of a small amount of glucagon-sensitive activity (1.8-fold over basal). These results indicate that cell size, per se, is not a dominant factor affecting hormone-responsive adenylate cyclase under conditions of dietary restriction...